“Luca”: A summer memory of friendship

After waiting for so long, “Luca” is finally here!

This movie with a strong Italian summer style finally met us at the end of June.

It is Pixar’s 25th new animated work, created by the “Soul” and “Coco” teams. Just looking at the behind-the-scenes team, you will know that it is stable.

From the creative short film “Luxo Jr.” that year, he has 11 Oscar trophies.

This year, Pixar Animation Studios also celebrated its 35th birthday.

Related Post: Pixar’s new film “Luca” reveals trailer special.

Their works are always so shocking, touching every big friend and little friend.

The phrase “produced by Pixar must be a fine product” has also become a conscience evaluation that has been verified by time.

The story of “Luca” took place in the Italian seaside town of Riviera in the 1950s.

It is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, with blue seas, steep cliffs and colorful buildings.

The brilliant scorching sun of the Mediterranean reflects everything warmly and brightly.

The air of the town is filled with the smell of summer-it is the fragrance of pasta, mixed with the sweetness of ice cream.

Among other things, the scenery alone makes people call “beautiful cry”.

Related Post: “Ciao Alberto”: “Luca” extra chapter short film will be launched soon .

You know, “Luca” North America is only available on Disney+, and this time the Chinese audience is very lucky to be able to feast their eyes on the big screen.

In the seaside town of “Luca”, humans and sea monsters were originally at odds.

The protagonist Luca is a small sea monster. He lives in the underwater world with his parents and grandma.

His family regards mankind as a terrible enemy and forbids him to travel to the land world of mankind.

This aroused Luca’s strong curiosity. By chance, he met another boy, Alberto who was also a sea monster, and they became each other’s best friends.

On land, they can easily become humans, but once they are exposed to water, they will quickly reveal their true identities.

Nevertheless, the two little boys started a big adventure in the land world.

They ran and played in the grass together, rode around on a self-made trolley, and even rushed off the cliff to dive. The happiness of a teenager is so simple.

Later, Luca and Alberto met Giulia, a little human girl, who was also an “outsider” in a small town and was always bullied.

So the three people who “have pity for each other” quickly became one.

Although the friendship between the three friends has been continuously sublimated in a series of events, it is also facing greater challenges.

Can the people in the small town accept the original appearance of the sea monsters?

The film is the feature film debut of the director Enrico Casarosa of the Oscar-nominated short film “La Luna”.

The source of the story can be traced back to Casarosa’s childhood. He was born in Genoa, Italy, and spent his childhood summers on the beach.

Alberto, the other male protagonist of the story, is the name of the director’s childhood friend.

“I met my best friend when I was 11 years old. I was shy and timid, and he was a naughty bag running around.”

In reality, Alberto has joined the Italian Air Force and is now a fighter pilot with the rank of colonel.

As a director from Italy, Casarosa naturally added more Italian elements to this film.

For example, in the film, a tribute to the famous Italian movie “Roman Holiday”, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck ride together, it is the same Vespa brand motorcycle in the film.

The director also told reporters that “Porco Rosso” directed by Miyazaki Hayao is one of the inspirations for “Luca”.

“This is one of my favorite works of Miyazaki Hayao. What attracted me to “Porco Rosso” is that he came to Italy for this film, and the story of the film is also set in Italy.”

The name of the town in this film, Portorosso, is very close to the title of “Porco Rosso”.

“At first we thought about Portocofino, and then about Monterosso, which is also a real town name in reality, so we wanted to integrate it. Finally we got the name Portorosso.”

One more spoiler, it also pays tribute to the famous Italian director Federico Fellini, you can pay attention to it when watching the movie.

Of course, for a new film named “Pixar”, we always expect more.

If it is only to show the exotic atmosphere or to tell the friendship of childhood, it is still not deep enough. After all, there are so many masterpieces that have already been in front of them.

In “Luca”, the confrontation between sea monsters and humans raises the issue of the identity of the “minority group”.

The so-called “minority groups” can be LGBT groups, people with disabilities, people with mental disabilities, or immigrants.

They are all kinds of people who are not recognized by the mainstream society and are discriminated against.

They used to be willing to live in the gloomy seabed.

This movie tells everyone: no matter how “special” these people are, they all have the right to stand in the sun equally.

Everyone is born different. In this world, there are always people who are willing to let go of their prejudices and embrace them affectionately.

Some people have always said that Pixar is the “technical madman” of the animation industry.

This is true. From a technical point of view, this “Luca” continues to show us Pixar’s top production standards in the industry.

The countless details in “Luca” give people an incredible sense of reality, as if the wind and light from the postcard were directly transferred to the big screen and then come alive.

That’s right, the director told reporters that the production team deliberately went to a local town in Italy for a meticulous collection of styles.

“I feel very lucky because the whole production process is like inviting everyone to experience my childhood together.”

If you look for it with a magnifying glass, you will find that the color of the bricks and tiles in the town, the dew drops on the grass blades, the silver light shining on the sea, and the fluffy curly hair of the teenagers, all are quite rich. detail design.

Pixar has also made richer changes when dealing with character hairstyles.

In “Luca”, the three little protagonists have various curly hair styles.

Giulia’s fluffy and soft red curly hair, which rises and falls with her movements, seems extraordinarily natural.

In addition, the technological progress in Pixar’s “light effect system” is also obvious to all.

The sea surface in “Luca” was shimmering under the bright sun, and Pixar really made the wonderful effect of “sprinkling a handful of silver” on the sea surface.

Obviously it is an animated screenshot, but it achieves a real photo effect.

In this movie, the sea monster becomes a human “transformation” design, which is also the highlight of technology.

There are a total of 3436 scales on Luca. When he was transformed, he looked a bit like Mystique in “X-Men” because they all had a scale-like design.

Of course, when the little sea monster is deformed, it is not as sexy as Mystique, and more cute.

The production team must achieve a smooth and natural deformation effect.

They need to allow animators to fine-tune the details of the deformation process, such as when the deformation starts, the speed of the deformation, the changes in the shape of the water entering the water, and so on.

Originally, before making these details, you need to do animation first, and then give it to the special effects team, and finally the animator can see the rendered effect.

This time, Pixte intends to develop a binding control system related to “deformation”.

In this way, the animator can correct the various details of the deformation one by one, and can immediately see the modified result.

What is the real “technical madman”?

Just as Pixar demonstrated, every detail is not overlooked.

Related Post: Pixar “Luca” releases character posters.